Tornado threat ramps up across central US a day after destructive tornadoes in Kansas | CNN

A week of severe storm threats across the central US started with a bang Monday, with multiple tornadoes demolishing buildings in Kansas, heavy rain stranding vehicles on flooded streets in Wisconsin and baseball-sized hail battering parts of three states. Tuesday has turned out to be just as dangerous, with multiple tornadoes causing damage across parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, including a destroyed home and significant structural damage to multiple buildings. Tens of millions of people from the Texas-Mexico border to the Great Lakes are at risk of severe storms Tuesday, including in Chicago; Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa where there’s a Level 3 of 5 threat for large to giant hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes. Three tornado watches are in effect for more than 22 million people across the south central Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest. Dangerous flooding is also a concern, especially where rivers are already running high in water-logged northern Michigan and in Wisconsin, where dams are also at risk of failing. On the cold side of the storm system, snowy conditions in the high elevations of the Colorado Rocky Mountains contributed to a 75-car pileup on I-70 outside of t

Apr 13, 2026 → May 1, 2026